Special Message from Jeffrey D. Sachs

10:00-12:20

Room 503 / P-1

Accelerating Low Carbon, Resilient and Inclusive Development in the Region: Implications of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report for Asia

Climate change is posing substantial threats to both present and future generations, and action must be taken not only to mitigate but also to adapt to its impacts. With its significant economic expansion and huge population, Asia has seen an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If carbon intensive development pattern continues, Asia will account for about 50% of global GHG emissions by 2050. In that sense, there has been growing importance in low-carbon development in Asia. Leading experts on climate change and sustainable development have been invited to this session to discuss how Asia can lead the world into a sustainable future, fully taking into consideration of implications of the Fifth Assessment Report of IPCC.

12:35-13:45

Room 502 / L-1

Key Messages from IGES White Paper V:
How Regional Integration in Asia Can Benefit People and the Environment

The Fifth IGES White Paper (WP V), entitled "Greening Integration in Asia: How Regional Integration Can Benefit People and the Environment", discusses how regional integration efforts in Asia and the Pacific could be a driver for green economy and sustainable development. The current regional integration processes in the region are focusing on economic integration through trade and investment liberalisation. WP V tries to invite an active discussion on what kind of regional integration amongst Asian nations would be beneficial, not only in the short term and from the narrow viewpoint of national interests, but from a wider sustainability perspective. The publication is based on the results of a number of IGES studies related with regional cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific. In this session selected chapter authors will share their key messages and discuss with the audience how greening integration in Asia can be realised.

14:00-15:30

This is the launch session of the Japan 2050 Low Carbon Navigator (a Japanese version of the UK 2050 Pathways Calculator), jointly developed by IGES and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). The session will not only introduce the Japan 2050 Low Carbon Navigator, but will also share lessons learnt from the UK 2050 Pathways Calculator. In the panel discussion, speakers from different areas such as education, NGOs, mass media and local government will discuss ways in which the 2050 Low Carbon Navigator can be used and convey their expectations for this tool. See more on the web-site of 2050 Low Carbon Navigator (http://www.2050-low-carbon-navi.jp/web/en/).

Tsuyoshi Fujita, Director, Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

14:00-15:30

Room 502 / PL-2

Building Resilient Cities in Asia: From Theory to Practice

In response to the recent increase in wind and flood damages caused by climate change and large-scale natural disasters like the Great East Japan Earthquake, cities are aiming to develop resilience to cope with such external risks. Furthermore, to maintain city functions supporting social and economic systems even during a disaster, cities have started focusing not only on disaster risk reduction and mitigation, but also on measures to maintain an energy supply and ways to transition urban structure. IGES is carrying out joint research on these new subjects with the Universities of Nagoya, Hosei and Osaka, and this session introduces the activities and plans of selected cities in Japan and overseas. It will feature discussions on how efforts could be evaluated, promoted and mainstreamed into city development plans.

Akihiro Tokai, Professor, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University / Director, On-site Research Center for Sustainability Design, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University

14:00-15:30

Room 511+512 / PL-3

Bringing SLCPs and PM2.5 into Integrated Air Pollution and Climate Change Strategies in Asia: Linking Science, Models, and Action

The formation of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has focused growing attention on mitigating species of air pollutants that contribute to climate change known as short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). This session addresses three questions: what is the relationship between SLCPs and other atmospheric pollutants such as PM2.5; what are the benefits and costs of key SLCPs control options; and what policy frameworks and institutional arrangements are needed to promote SLCPs control options. Addressing these questions will have important implications for national and subnational policies in Asia, as well as other international and regional policymaking processes. With a view to generating value added inputs into these processes, this session has three objectives: to familiarise the audience with the varying impacts of atmospheric pollutants; to demonstrate the costs and benefits of key SLCPs control technologies; and to provide an overview of how policy-making processes are aiming to promote those technologies.

14:00-16:00

IGES/UNU-IAS Collaborative Session

Room 413 / PL-4

Stakeholder Communication for Informed Decisions:
Lessons from and for the Displaced Communities of Fukushima

Three years on from the Great East Japan Earthquake, the recovery for the communities displaced by the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi NPP still represents a daunting process. Many of the policies addressing recovery of these communities have been based on the assumption that evacuees will return once decontamination operations have decreased the radiation levels. In practice, the intentions to return are fading out as the evacuation gets protracted. This situation calls for stakeholder communication between policy-makers, experts and the affected communities enabling informed decisions regarding return or relocation and supporting informed policies that respects people’s choices. This session will focus on the issue of stakeholder communication to facilitate informed decision-making and informed policy-making in the process of recovery from complex disasters, to bring forward lessons from Fukushima and international experience relevant for its recovery.

15:45-17:15

IGES/NIES Collaborative Session

Room 503 / PL-5

International Climate Regime in 2020 and Initiatives in Asia:
Mitigation Actions and a Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) System

This session starts with a framing presentation on the current status of international climate change negotiations and a discussion on mitigation actions in developing countries. Following this, there will be a presentation to introduce Indonesia’s mitigation actions at the national and sub-national levels, as well as a presentation on a new research initiative on MRV in Indonesia. After these presentations, a panel discussion will be held to discuss: 1) What the impacts are of the evolving international climate regime on developing countries’ mitigation actions at the national and the sub-national level; 2) How national and local mitigation initiatives can be enhanced through international climate regime; and, 3) What the challenges and the way forward are for developing countries to enhance their mitigation action in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner.

Yasuko Kameyama, Head, Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research (Sustainable Social Systems Section), National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

15:45-17:15

Room 502 / PL-6

Key Messages from IPCC AR5 and Its Implications in Asia: Future Perspective of Climate Change Policies in Asia through Integration of Mitigation and Adaptation

The session will present the latest scientific findings and issues on climate change, looking at both adaptation and mitigation, based on the IPCC 5th Assessment Report (AR5) published in 2014. Discussions will address the integration of mitigation and adaptation policies/efforts. It is hoped that a good understanding will emerge on ways to integrate both policies and issues. The session will start with a key note presentation on the findings from IPCC WGII and WGIII AR5 with perspective on Asia. Panelists will then discuss how to perceive climate risks, issues and measures related to integration of mitigation and adaptation.

15:45-17:15

IGES/Keio Univ./TERI Univ. Collaborative Session

Room 511+512 / PL-7

Setting the Direction for Adaptive Development:
The Urgent Need to Achieve a Sustainable Asia-Pacific

Adaptive development aims to link the concepts of sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and risk governance into one paradigm for achieving a sustainable Asia-Pacific in light of the emerging needs and challenges in the region. This is a critical endeavour for the future well-being of people in the region and throughout the world. During this session, presenters will address the importance of adaptive development and consider how it can be best framed to provide an effective course of action. Additionally, presentations will detail important practices currently being conducted to generate new knowledge and solutions for achieving adaptive development. This session aims to identify how academic and research communities can be mobilised to produce pragmatic knowledge to address these emerging issues for adaptive development.

[Day 2] 24 July (Thursday)

9:30-10:30

The aim of this session is to frame overall discussions on sustainable and inclusive development in the region at ISAP sessions. Current international discussion on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be introduced. The session will also feature discussions on key topics that will lead Asia into sustainable development such as sustainable consumption and production, sustainable lifestyle and well-being.

10:45-12:45

This session addresses the question of barriers and success factors in low-carbon technology transfer for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. SMEs possess major potential for low-carbon technologies transfer. However, the use of specific mechanisms have not received enough attention in climate discussions, and the lack of a match-making strategy among stakeholders forms a major barrier to the enhancement of financing technology transfer. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Climate Technology Centre Network (CTCN) was established to promote technology transfer for developing countries, and the government of Japan is implementing the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), which promotes low-carbon technology transfer through the exchange of emission reduction credits. This session will feature discussions among the private sector and government, on the subject of how to create an effective match-making platform to enable conditions for financing technology transfer for SMEs in developing countries.

10:45-12:45

Benefits and Challenges of Community Engagement for the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity: Lessons from Participatory Landscape Management under the Satoyama Initiative

The exclusion of ecosystem-dependent communities from the management and use of local resources has been one of the drivers of ecosystem degradation around the world, causing illegal logging, poaching, overgrazing, overfishing, etc. In this context, the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) has been striving to overcome the loss of biodiversity in production landscapes and seascapes by promoting good practices for participatory planning and management. Many cases of community engagement have been identified among the IPSI member organizations, aiming to improve governance, to secure alternative livelihoods, and to ensure environmentally sustainable ways of production at the local level. This session will aim to showcase some of the opportunities and challenges of participatory ecosystem use, based on the experiences accumulated under the Satoyama Initiative.
The session will first provide an overview of the Satoyama Initiative, and introduce an example of an innovative, locally-rooted form of marketing, which can act as a bridge between sustainable production and consumption. This will be followed by case study presentations by IPSI partners, as well as a panel discussion on the possibilities and challenges of community engagement for the sustainable use of biodiversity.

10:45-12:45

Room 502 / PL-10

Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia:
Toward a Common Language for Governance

In the wake of the 2012 Rio+20 conference, governments will soon begin to negotiate the post-2015 development agenda. The outcomes of those negotiations will likely yield a set transformational sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDGs will help raise the profile of several new policies priorities, but the degree to which they improve the health of people and the planet will depend upon an often overlooked factor: governance. Many organisations underline that “good governance” will be essential to achieving the SDGs; however, operationalising the term remains difficult.
Some organisations stress broad principles (such as rule of law or control of corruption) while others highlight narrow practices (such as engaging stakeholders or monitoring progress). This session will bring together policy-makers, experts and practitioners from Asia to outline these differences and work towards a common language for governance of the SDGs.

13:00-14:20

Room 502 / L-2

Promoting an Integrated Knowledge-Base System for Scientific Low Carbon Development Policymaking in Asia

This session aims to show the audience and the world that countries and organisations in Asia have cooperated to form an effective sequential system of knowledge creation, education and capacity development, knowledge sharing, and dissemination for science-based low-carbon development policy-making, and based on this, they will send out various messages in the run up to COP21.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will adopt a universal climate agreement for all nations to reduce GHG emissions, which will come into effect from 2020. Countries in Asia hold the key to climate stabilisation in terms of whether they can introduce science-based low-carbon policies into their development policies, as it is predicted that, in a BAU scenario, GHG emissions from Asia will account for 50% of the global total. Recently, we have seen a positive change in Asia – research communities in Asia are being strengthened, and linkage between research and policies is being promoted in a more effective manner, ensuring full ownership. In this session, we would like to propose facilitating the same activities worldwide, by introducing contributions made by research communities in Asia, ahead of Workstream 2 for COP21, which aims to increase ambitions to cut GHG emissions.

13:00-14:30

Room 413 / Roundtable

Roundtable on Harnessing Synergies between Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction: Pertinent Issues, Success Cases and the Way Forward

There has been a growing consensus among scholars and practitioners on the synergies between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. IGES has embarked upon scoping research on how to best operationalise this synergy in actual practice on the ground. To feed into the IGES research, participants will discuss the current conceptual understanding on synergies and the differences between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. They will also evaluate the current experiences of operationalising these synergies between DRR and CCA in actual implementation, discuss existing bottlenecks and the way forward for harnessing the synergies between CCA and DRR, as well as identifying crucial research questions to be addressed in this field.

14:35-16:35

Room 503 / PL-11

Making Cities More Sustainable in Asia: Bridging Theory and Practice

Currently, Asian cities are rapidly urbanising and functioning as the engines of national economic growth. On the other hand, this growth is supported by the huge consumption of energy and resources which is causing environmental challenges including management of solid waste, wastewater, air pollution and greenhouse gases. This session discusses how city governments can address these challenges. The session will invite resource persons from OECD and the Wuppertal Institute as well as panellists from Japanese local governments to share insights into balancing economic growth and environmental management. Participants will also discuss how the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) can help balance economic and environmental priorities.

14:35-16:35

IGES/UNEP-ROAP Collaborative Session

Room 502 / PL-12

Empowering Stakeholders and Spearheading Innovation for Sustainable Development: Lessons from the Field and Future Perspectives

It is people who catalyse changes and innovation for building a sustainable community. Under the Asia Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED) Showcase Program managed by the United Nations Environment Programme – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 58 field projects have been supported to promote multifaceted innovation for sustainable development. The multi-stakeholder dialogue at ISAP2014 is aimed at demonstrating best practices from project case studies and sharing insights on how to scale up such achievements, forge a platform for further partnerships and provide bottom-up inputs for the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

14:35-16:35

Advancing Education as a Goal for Sustainable Development: On the Road to Nagoya – Moving towards Transformative Learning for Sustainable Lifestyles

On the road to Nagoya, where the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) will be held in November 2014, this session aims at providing a road map for advancing education as a key mechanism in achieving sustainable development. Bringing together ESD experts, the session will address how transformative learning, social change and transitions to sustainability can be supported through improved educational approaches and the creation of enabling environments for sustainable lifestyles. Additionally, questions on how to best integrate aspects of quality education, ESD learning performance, and global citizenship and peace education into the framing of the Global Action Programme on ESD will be explored by session speakers. The panel discussion will address how this programme can meaningfully contribute to the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda.